Tutorial's End

The Comprehensive and Concise Guide to Ranking by Chezly Falthrick

A Summary of Rankings and Their Associated Milestones

Take care with what insights you pursue and remember their greatest vulnerability: Your own perspective. An insight cannot be formed if it's absolutely and undeniably untrue.

However, if you yourself no longer believe the insight or you can no longer truly claim to understand it - Your insight will break. There is no greater torture than a broken insight, though brief, the pain transcends anything I have ever experienced. Every being I have ever interviewed who had experienced a break has agreed.

Again, I advise you, be sure that whatever insights you acknowledge and actualize are ones which you have a true and firm belief in which cannot be shaken no matter the situation.

Finally, my last warning: Will and stubbornness does not equate to belief. Many beings believe that if they refuse to acknowledge something, then they do not know it. Many think if they state something is true and do not allow themselves to accept otherwise, they truly believe it. Insights are not things which we can deceive ourselves into, or protect with false certainty.

Willow

The High Garden, Vesheen City, Shee

This time, Willow was prepared for Skatheerak's oddities. She wouldn't be distracted. She'd lead the conversation where she wanted it to go. Planning wasn't exactly her strongest skill, but she wouldn't say she was bad at it either. It was just something she rarely bothered with, as it tended to sap the joy of just experiencing things.

In this case, though, Willow was willing to put up with some blandness if she could get the answers she was seeking. Tather had clearly targeted herself and her party intentionally, even asking about the rift. Either he'd been sent by someone, most likely Skatatak, or he'd been acting on his own. In the first case, Skatatak was likely some big-shot who was trying to sus out why the rift closed - exploded.

On the other hand, if Tather was working on his own, that raised an entire slew of new questions. So, while she and Piper waited for them to arrive, they watched the monitors and discussed how to get those questions answered. How she should open the conversation, and so on.

Luckily, Skatatak gave them a wonderful way to break the ice! As they idly watched the screens, Piper had noticed Skatatak and her party trudging through the city. Distracted from their plotting, they quickly made a game of finding which monitor they'd appear on next. Due to their game - ehem, scouting our opponent - Willow had seen the fae woman stumble more than once. She thought maybe one of her feet was injured or something.

That realization had brought the plotting back on course as it seemed like a cheeky way to begin the pleasantries. Instead of going with Piper's original suggestion of opening with, "Sorry for breaking and entering, then waiting in ambush" - they'd go with a much more civil question checking if their 'host' was healthy! It was perfect! Or, rather, Willow wasn't really sure what might be better. The longer they had waited, the more she'd realized how awkward the upcoming conversation was going to be.

What Willow hadn't, at all, expected was Skatatak to bow and start treating her like royalty. Her plan to take the initiative might have worked a bit too well, as the blue-jowled woman wouldn't even meet her eyes and didn't reply beyond thanking her for being concerned.

Eyes sweeping over the small crowd that had filled into the room after Skatatak, Willow noted all of the same beings that had been following her around the other day on the street. Is this literally her entire staff? What's the point of this crazy big house-fortress? I could ask… No, no, stay on track!

Piper whispered softly, her tiny fingers tickling Willow as she leaned against the upper arch of her ear in order to speak directly into it, "Willow! Say something, they're all waiting on you! If you stay quiet they might think you're slow! You know, mentally! And that'll make them think I'M not smart because I'm with you!"

Shaking her head slightly, making the pestering guide stumble, Willow took a deep breath and reoriented her thoughts. If they were going to fully let her take the lead, no need to 'lead' the conversation where she wanted it to go, right? May as well just ask.

"So, would you mind telling me what you know about Tather and the soul injury that… Someone… Caused?" Willow decided not to confirm her involvement in such an injury, considering she'd denied all responsibility there was no reason to muddy the waters.

Slowly straightening from her deep curtsy, Skatatak kept her eyes on Willows feet. She didn't seem shy before, is it because I broke into her house? Maybe she's scared? It would be pretty freaky to come home to find someone hanging out in your super-secret room… Wait, am I the villain here?

"My lady, I would be more than happy to tell you what I know about the soul injury and the man who was harmed. As for Tather, I'm afraid I've learned nothing of any 'Tather' as of yet. I apologize for my incompetence." Her eyes tightened as she spoke the last sentence, clearly she didn't enjoy abasing herself.

How the flapjack can she know about 'the man who was harmed' but not Tather? Is she going to try and pretend it's someone else for some kind of deniability? Like a hypothetical or something? Weird…

Noticing the woman still hadn't dared look up and her entire group were standing awkwardly at attention, Willow decided it was time to try and defuse the weird mood a bit. "I see, well before we get started, how about we sit?" So saying, she gestured to a particular set of sofas that were already positioned to face each other.

Striding over, Willow took a seat on the one with silver and green trim, mostly because its fluffy pillows looked more comfortable. When she turned to check on her host, she saw an expression of horror quickly concealed.

Swallowing, Skatatak walked forward with slow, stiff, steps. Hmm, whatever was bothering her on her walk here has clearly gotten worse.

Taking her seat across from Willow, the fae finally made eye contact and attempted to smile. She mostly failed, but points for effort. "Perfect! Please, do you need anything for your foot? Ice or something?"

Piper whispered quiet encouragement into her ear, "Good job! You're doing a great job of pretending it's not super weird for you to be giving orders to the owner of the house you're in! At least, I think you are! You barely sound awkward at all!"

Swatting at Piper, who nimbly dodged the half hearted motion, Willow felt her forced smile become a little more natural. Thankfully, Skatatak's servants quickly began moving about too. Perfect, I knew getting everyone relaxed was the right move!

Two of the orc guards took up positions on either side of the door, while a few others quietly made their way to different seats: each a polite distance from herself and Skatatak. Finally, Tather rushed forward and dropped to one knee before his employer - mistress? boss? - and started messing her her feet.

Deciding to try very hard not to pry or stare at whatever foot-touching was going on, Willow kept her eyes resolutely above the weird scene. Is it normal for fae to mess with each other's feet during meetings? That's just… Why are fae so weird?

"Great! Now… If you don't mind, how about you tell me what you know." Willow kept her voice calm and light, doing her best to pretend she was asking her gram-gram to resume a story she'd interrupted or asking her friends to ignore whichever of her outbursts had brought the conversation to a screeching halt.

One well-manicured hand reaching up to stroke the edge of her hanging waves of blue cheek-fat, Skatatak obliged, "Of course, my lady. I suppose I should begin with the intentions of the man…" Her eyes flicked down for a brief moment toward Tather, confirming to Willow that she definitely knew who he was. Skatatak's gaze swiftly returned to Willow as if worried she'd notice her attention move, a pretty valid worry given how obvious she'd been.

The fae continued, "Well, he was sent to investigate the destruction of a very important feature of this planet…"

"The rift" Willow offered as her host began to trail off.

Nodding sharply, Skatatak continued, "Of course you would know, my lady."

Willow noticed Tather carefully looking between the two of them as they spoke, the whole time keeping his body hunched and down. She could only tell where his attention was because he needed to reposition in such a way that he could see through the long golden curtain he called hair. He was, obviously, interested in how this conversation went.

Sighing lightly, Skatatak took on a tone of slight exasperation, "During the course of his investigation, my… That is, the man… Learned of several parties that had exited the rift mere moments before the rift's full collapse. Taking an account of each group, he decided the next step was to interview them. I understand that interviewing is part of the man's path, so the inclination is natural."

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Ignoring the way the fae looked at her searching for agreement of whether the 'inclination was natural', Willow waited to hear more. Now that the woman was talking, it seemed best to just let her keep going. Unfortunately, Skatatak was apparently happy to sit and stare at Willow with big eyes until she got some kind of answer.

"Sure." She said neutrally, hearing the flat tone of her own voice she almost winced. I probably should have tried to play along a bit more or- Oh, nevermind. She's talking again.

"So he spent a while going around and interviewing each group. Most immediately complied upon his explaining that he was an enforcer, not wishing to get on the bad side of any enforcer in the course of performing his duties."

The wording here was interesting and Willow leaned in, clarifying, "But is he actually an enforcer?"

"Not… Not as such, my lady." She admitted. "Although he does have the qualifications, and the political backing to possibly be described as one."

"So he lied to everyone he interviewed." Willow pressed, wanting to confirm he'd been acting in bad faith from the get-go.

"Lie is quite harsh, my lady. As you well know, there are shades of truth. Looked at in a certain light, he exaggerated for the sake of expediency."

That's a yes, then. "I see." Willow replied flatly. "Please, go on."

Licking her lips far too thoroughly, Skatatak complied, "When he ran into your… I mean, a group similar to the one you have been described as associating with, he initiated his interview as with all other suspects and began asking similar questions. Unfortunately, he apparently failed to properly vet his suspects before initiating contact."

Uh huh, 'initiating contact' isn't how I'd describe yanking us out of our bodies into some mindscape thing. Taking a deep breath which sent the waves of baggy flesh which framed her face jiggling, Skatatak's resumed her tale. "He asked the group all similar questions, though one woman - who identified herself honestly as 'Willow'…"

She stopped to see if Willow herself would comment, trying to entrap me? Good luck. Her poker face was perfect. "Why's your cheek twitching like that, it looks weird. Aren't you supposed to be in full control of yourself? Pfff, amature." Piper helpfully inquired privately into her ear.

"…Ehehm, yes, so Willow declared herself as Madrick Lark's direct disciple. The man's skill identified the statement as true. Sometime during this exchange, the man's interviews with the rest of Willow's party was entirely cut off. He tried to re-initiate the connection, but found himself unable to. He believed his only remaining interviewee was responsible for interfering with his ability. Anyway, the interview proceeded fairly normally with Willow herself, until the man foolishly began to pry into personal secrets he should not have. If I may inject my own commentary, I believe this overstep was the direct cause for the damage he later took upon his soul." She looked to Willow for some kind of reaction, which she supplied by waving her onward.

Skatatak took the hint. "He asked about her path and was quickly, and rightly, rebuked for the inappropriate questions. From then on, he began to have difficulty extracting any useful answers from Willow. He was unable to determine to his satisfaction whether or not she was related to the destruction of the Sheerna rift. Her answers were all true, but the man believed she had found a way to fool his interview skill's lie detection. When he pressed her too far, she told him she'd had enough and ripped his interview ability apart with apparent ease. It was clear that she'd been capable of ending the interview, painfully for the man, at any time and had only tolerated it for reasons of her own."

That's… Not what happened. Did Tather lie to her? Willow slowly looked down toward Tather, not allowing her discomfort at his frankly obscene rubbing of Skatatak's feet to unsettle her. His head turned slightly, hair swishing to reveal a familiar barkey eye.

Breaking eye contact, she turned her head to scan the rest of the room. Most of the orcs were sitting across or beside each other, playing games or talking softly. The ones at the door were alert, but didn't appear anxious. The captain was sitting alone, watching them from a comfortable distance. His eyes were calm and steady.

So Tather probably lied to Skatatak about how strong and experienced I am. I told him that I was a new arrival and ignorant of a lot of stuff and his ability would have confirmed I wasn't lying. So I guess he's not very loyal to her. Should I just ask to talk to him directly?

Before she could do that, her UICI alerted her of an incoming message. Usually, the message would just politely pop itself into the little scroll-shelf she'd made up in the top right of her vision while all of it remained mostly transparent. This message, though, appeared directly in front of her vision. Given she'd set it up to only do that with messages marked as urgent, and from a very small, very specific, list, Willow had to check it.

Giving her host a quick smile, she apologized, "I need to check something real quick, if you could give me a minute, sorry about this."

Opening the message, she read:

Dear Disciple,

Good job clearing the rift. I'm surprised you managed to actually complete the trials and close it, most beings don't discover that's a possibility until they've ascended past the origin universe. I assume one of the ex-legends you recruited aided you, good choice in companions.

Now, for the purpose of my message. I'm on my way to Shee, I should be there in four days. Gather your things and whoever you want to bring with you. We're going to start a faction.

P.S. If you want to poach from Frazzlen that's fine, we'll just need to find someone who can break their contracts for them. It'll be pricey, so make sure they're worth it.

Blinking, Willow had several thoughts which all competed to be first. Once she managed to get them to cooperate and line up, they demanded answers that she simply couldn't give. First, how the heck did Madrick get on her priority message list? She hadn't put him there. Second, why did he suddenly want to start a faction. Third, why was he making it her problem that he wanted a faction?

Blessedly, the last thought wasn't another question. Instead, it was a realization. One she groaned and spoke out loud, "Urgh, this entire investigation was just a waste of time. It doesn't matter at all."

Standing, she waved at Skatatak, "Sorry Skatatak-"

"Skathareek" Piper whispered to her urgently.

"Uh, I mean Skathareek, I've gotta run. Unfortunately I have other responsibilities to take care of and ah-" She thought of how to say 'I'm being dragged off by my crazy self-declared master' politely. "It was a pleasure talking to you!"

With that, she turned and walked toward the door. One of the guards saluted by crossing his right hand over his body and clasping his left shoulder. He quickly asked, "Ma'am, would you like a portal to your destination? It would be no problem."

Her eyes lit up, Not having to go through the creepy abandoned house again? Yes please!

"That'd be wonderful! Could you drop me off in the central plaza please?"

"Of course." Less than a second later, Willow was half way across the city.

I need to learn how to teleport.

Skathareek

Repurposed Sheerna Observation Lab, Vesheen City, Shee

Outclassed yet again. Skathareek found herself slumping into the sofa she'd been directed into by her opponent, a deep sigh escaping despite her best attempts to hold it in. Her man-servant was hard at work, de-barking her. The pleasant conversation masking the true high-pressure interrogation that it was had frayed the last of her remaining nerves, resulting in horrible growths.

Before Skathareek had been able to think of a way to salvage her position and gain momentum in the conversation, the human had effortlessly played her for a fool. Starting by reminding Skathareek that she was fully capable of destroying, or at the very least torturing, her soul, she then ordered her to sit in her own domain. More than that, she forced her to sit in the cedar-crafted sofa, while she herself took the regal mahogany couch herself. A clear demonstration of absolute superiority.

Then she'd gently pointed out Skathareek's insufficient self-control, politely pointing out how much bark was accumulating on her feet. Even going so far as to offer ice to slow the process, as if she'd be consumed in moments! The gall. Yet she'd done so with a polite, ignorant smile, as if genuinely interested in aiding her.

In that moment Skathareek had been tempted to drop the civilities and demand her guards throw her out on her ear. She had been just about to, in fact. Until the woman waved, perfectly mimicking a signal she'd taught all of her staff. Her blood had run cold as she commanded her retinue to be at ease - and they'd listened. This whole time, her entire staff hadn't been hers to command at all, it had been Willow's. The woman had, somehow, subverted every single one of her closest allies so perfectly and subtly that Skathareek wasn't even sure if the beings in question themselves even knew they'd been compromised.

It seemed quite obvious that Willow's path was a hybrid of seer and something related to soul manipulation. She'd twisted the souls of her followers into pliable forms which would always obey her immediately without question.

Once she'd demonstrated her control over her people, the human had proceeded to demand she report on her man-servant's interview with her. When she'd finished, Willow and her previously most-loyal attendant locked eyes for a long moment. Clearly, she had come to verify he hadn't reported the full truth of their encounter. The gaze was unmistakable, though had Skathareek even an iota less political savvy, she would have missed the gravity of that moment.

When she tried to poke and prod, looking to understand her motivations by adding embellishments here or there, making suggestions as to the rightness of different actions… She was met with a blank expression. At one point, she thought Willow had broken and revealed something, a very minor change in her facial expression by her cheek suggesting something important - only to realize she was minutely smiling at whatever the pink fairy on her shoulder had said.

Yet another proof of her dominance. Fairies were impossible to tame, much less domesticate. Yet she had a high-fairy, identified as such by her brilliantly vivid coloration, as a kind of advisor! The insanity was never-ending with this woman and Skathareek badly regretted ordering her servant to find something interesting for her.

The only time she broke her neutral expression had been to narrow her eyes and remind Skathareek that her servant had claimed to be an enforcer when he, in fact, was not. She knew as well as Willow that, should a real enforcer learn he'd impersonated one of them, the consequences would be brutal. She would likely never see or hear from her most loyal attendant again. Though, after his betrayal, perhaps… No. It wasn't his fault, Willow was beyond either of them. He likely didn't even know he was compromised.

Then, finally, after forcing Skathareek to recount the folly of her servant - which she herself was clearly responsible for - Willow had declared how meaningless the entire thing was. She spoke as if just realizing she needn't have concerned herself, yet Skathareek knew better. The real message was clear: "I didn't need to bother warning and teaching you, I could have simply torn your soul to shreds and left you to suffer."

At least Willow had deigned not truly bring her any harm, just warning her off instead. At least she showed that much mercy.

Skathareek didn't even hear as her servant tried to get her attention, asking for orders and plans.

What was the point of planning when a true monster like that could simply divert them to her own end? No matter she did, Skathareek knew Willow could easily thwart her.

With that final thought, Willow's final parting gift arrived and Skathareek's mind stuttered. Her first and most critical insight broke as she knew it to not be true, There is no failed plan, only new opportunities

The pain was indescribable. Beyond any soul damage she'd ever suffered. Beyond any physical torture. Beyond every one of the her twelve deaths. Blessedly, Skathareek fell unconscious the moment after the agony arrived.

Within the darkness of her sleep, Skathareek fled a bright smile set under cold, ice-blue eyes.